Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast, by Mike Tidwell

Read and reviewed in September, 2012. Given to my son.

Fascinating book! I couldn't put it down! Rich in experiences and conversations with people who live and work in Louisiana bayou country: Cajuns, Houma Indians (Native Americans), and Vietnamese. He gave a lot of technical and scientific information, but presented so well that this non-techie, non-scientific person could easily understand, and even find interesting.

Very troubling situation regarding south Louisiana - the land is disappearing, and rapidly! This is mainly due to the excellent levee system that keeps the Mississippi River from flooding, but it is the flooding that builds delta land. Because it's not being re-built, the Gulf of Mexico is eroding it, helped by the pipelines and canals of the oil and gas industry. Very sad. The book was published in 2003, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and others. The Third Delta Conveyance has not been built, or even started. It looks dire for Louisiana, and for the rest of the U. S.

Secret Dream, by Muriel Fontenot Blackwell

Book image courtesy of journalpics

Read, reviewed, and released in September-October, 2012 (I don't know why I didn't keep this for my grandchildren. I wish now that I had.)

A children's book.
This was very quick to read and with a happy ending (I needed that!). A book about an Acadian family (Cajun) in Louisiana and the dreams of a young girl to further her education. Set in the early days of World War II when drastic changes were coming to everyone.

Ms. Blackwell is of Acadian heritage herself. She wrote in the Preface, "This book is not autobiographical. However, the characters have been drawn from many persons I knew and loved in my childhood. It is an attempt to present a true picture of the Acadian people and the struggles they went through as World War II brought abrupt changes to their way of life." The book was dedicated to her son and daughter "that they might better understand their maternal heritage, a simple but noble one."